I am Kim, I'm 33 and live in NY. I have a husband named Sean, a 3 year old son named Henry and a fat beagle named Jack :)

My son has been fascinated with aquariums since he was very small (what kid isn't?). I have thought on and off that it would be nice to get a small tank going so he could have the excitement of a fish at home, but with me to look after it and do the mom-duty. The other day I decided to just go for it - but I needed something a beginner could handle, and also didn't want to start out dropping a small fortune. I always liked bettas and their elegant look. After some reading I headed to PetSmart and picked up the essentials. I know perhaps getting a fish from a big box store isn't "the best", but I wanted to try my hand and give one of the poor dudes floating in a plastic cup a new start.

He was labeled as a dragon scale crown tail male. He's a pretty turquoise color in the light, darker blue in the shade. He is yet unnamed but I am sure we'll have something good soon :) He's living in an Aqueon 2.5 MiniBow tank with live anacharis. I look forward to expanding/changing/elaborating on his living space but I want to see how the first few weeks go like this.

Thanks guys! I appreciate it! I do still need to pick up a few things...a thermometer and a heater are on the list. Though...will the lamp at the top of the tank provide enough heat for the water? (Here's where my noob status becomes apparent). Also, the filter doesn't seem to be very strong but I'm considering one of those sponges so our little dude doesn't have to fight the current all the time. It seems fine for now, he's not struggling...but better to be safe than sorry?

A sponge for the filter IMO is a wonderful addition. Some of the people here have had bettas sucked up into the filter when the suction was too strong with horrible results. A heater is needed, the lights may warm the water a little bit, but not enough to keep your betta comfortable especially during the fall and winter.

Your crown tail looks alot like mine, I believe they are called Royal Blue for the color, I am new also to Betta only having mine for 3 months now but I love it they are such awesome little fish ! Wow your Anacharis looks wonderful, did you get it at Petsmart also ? I have a couple of stems but nothing like yours but hoping it will keep growing and so far its growing fairly well. I think your tank looks very nice great job on it

I bet your little boy is going to love watching the Betta, they are so awesome I enjoy watching mine so much !!! Happy you found the forum its a great place for learning everything you need to know about the proper care of Betta. Good luck with the new little guy and have fun picking out a name for him. Mine is named Perseus and my daughter got him for me as Mothers Days gift and she teaches Latin so I wanted a Greek myth name.

Your crown tail looks alot like mine, I believe they are called Royal Blue for the color, I am new also to Betta only having mine for 3 months now but I love it they are such awesome little fish ! Wow your Anacharis looks wonderful, did you get it at Petsmart also ? I have a couple of stems but nothing like yours but hoping it will keep growing and so far its growing fairly well. I think your tank looks very nice great job on it

I bet your little boy is going to love watching the Betta, they are so awesome I enjoy watching mine so much !!! Happy you found the forum its a great place for learning everything you need to know about the proper care of Betta. Good luck with the new little guy and have fun picking out a name for him. Mine is named Perseus and my daughter got him for me as Mothers Days gift and she teaches Latin so I wanted a Greek myth name.

Hi! Yes, I did get the plants at PetSmart...they look pretty healthy to my untrained eye...I probably will trim off this little brown spot towards the top of one of the stems...but otherwise so far so good! Thanks for the compliment!

The forum definitely seems like a place of vast knowledge so I am happy I found it too! I love the name Perseus...I just rode a horse with the same name last week! I am a beginner equestrian, have been riding for about 2 months now. Anyhow it's even nicer to have a name that means something to you! Our little guy is still unnamed. Every time I suggest something to my son he says "No!". Haha! Pretty soon Mom is going to have to make an executive decision.

Last night's run to the store proved successful. I got our guy a heater, a thermometer and a marimo moss ball. The warmer water really seems to have perked him up which is great. The moss ball is so funky but I love it! Here's a quick question though...when I drop the food pellets into the tank, fishy really doesn't seem to care. I have not actually witnessed him eating. Is this ok/normal? I remember from having goldfish when I was a kid that they act like a bunch of piranhas the minute that food was dropped in!